1. Why are the occlusive plosive consonants called 'stops'?
2. Define the stops according to the place of articulation.
3. How are stops divided according to the work of the vocal cords and the force of articulation? What are the voiced counterparts of [p, t. k) ?
4. How are [b, d, gj pronounced in word final position? How would a Russian student probably pronounce them? Are the mistakes phonetic or phonological?
5. What is aspiration? Are Russian stops aspirated? Suppose a student of English makes [p, t, k] non-aspirated. Keeping in mind what you know about aspiration what would you tell him to do in order to correct the error?
6. How do the voiced and voiceless stops influence the length of preceding vowels?
7. What is palatalization? Why does this mistake occur in the pronunciation of Russian learners of English? In what cases may it occur? What advice regarding palatalization would you give a fellow-student who makes such errors in pronunciation?
8. What articulation exercises would you recommend for the stops [p, b, t, d, k, g] regarding their plosive articulation?
9. Suppose a fellow-student pronounces the Russian [ò] instead of the English (t). Is the mistake phonetic or phonological? Keeping in mind what you know about the English [t] tell him how to change the articulation.
10. What is the difference between the two consonants (b) in the
word bob!
11. If a student of English substitutes the English |d] by the Russian [ä1, does he make a phonetic or a phonological mistake? Can you correct it?
12. What do the consonants [p, t, k] have in common?
13. Think of word pairs illustrating the pronunciation of the final voiceless (voiced) stops.
14. What articulatory features of the opposed consonants make the meaning of the following words different? rip — rib, tear — dear, pick — pig, park — bark, seat — sead, card — guard.
15. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the Russian [ò] instead of the English [t]. Why can we call this mistake phonetic?
CONSTRICTIVE FRICATIVE CONSONANTS (FRICATIVES)
Constrictive fricative consonants comprise four pairs [f, v; 6, o;s, z;J, 3j and [hi.
They are constrictive because the air passage is constricted and an incomplete obstruction is formed; they are fricative, because the air passes through the narrowing with audible friction. All the fricatives except (J, 3] are unicentral. [f, 3) are bicentral, because they have two places of articulation or two foci, the second being produced by the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate thus forming a front secondary focus.
In the production of fricative consonants the narrowing at the place of articulation is flat. Only when (s, z] are produced it is round.
Place of Articulation,[f, v] are labio-dental, produced with the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth; [â, dj are fore-lingual, apical, interdental, articulated with the tip of the tongue projected between the upper and the lower teeth; [s, z,J, 3] are forelingual, apical alveolar, produced with the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge; (h) is glottal, made in the glottis.
Force of Articulation,[f, 9, s, J", hj are strong (fortis); (v, d, z, 3] are weak (lenis).
Voicing,[v, 0, z, 3J are fully voiced in word initial position before a vowel as in veal, these, zone, giraffe, or in an intervocalic position as in cover, father, bosom.
In word final position they are partly devoiced as in love [Uv], with [wid], rose [reuz].
[f, â, s, /, h] are voiceless, the vocal cords are apart and do not vibrate.
Position of the Soft Palate.Fricative consonants are oral, the soft palate is raised and the air escapes through the mouth.
Length of Preceding Vowels.Vowels before voiced fricatives are longer than before voiceless ones, eg leave — leaf; his — hiss.
Palatalization.English fricatives (except [f, 3J) are nonpalatal-ized, only before front close and mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back ones, cf father — feet, heart — heat, thunder — theme.
If Russian learners of English palatalize the fricatives they must raise the front part of the tongue only when they pronounce the vowels (front high or mid-open) but not during the production of consonants.
Table 8
English Constrictive Fricative Consonants (Fricatives)
| ^^^ According to the ^v. place of articu-Accordincp--v. lation to the force . of articulation ^. | Forelingual | Glottal | |||
| Labiodental | interdental | alveolar | palato-alveolar | ||
| Strong (fortis) voiceless | f | â | s | ; | h |
| Weak (lenis) sometimes voiced | V | d | z | — |